Mine's a 98, originally with the vac operated misery whip but now converted to on/off/reserve.  

Blueshift, if your petc0ck has 3 positions:  "PRI", "RES", and "ON" then you've got it too.  That's what's giving you the occasional trouble that turning it to "PRI" fixes.

The vac operated petc0ck works like this:  

"PRI" is forced on, and pulls from the bottom (reserve) standpipe in the tank.  No vacuum is necessary because a little metal coil pushes the diaphragm valve back against its spring when the valve is turned to the "PRI" position, letting fuel flow no matter what.

"RES" and "ON" need vacuum to pull the diaphragm valve back against its spring and let fuel flow.

Brand new, this works really great.

It gets complicated when the machine ages and the diaphragm starts leaking, because ON and RES may or may not work, PRI works but does not give you any reserve warning, and there's no true OFF to keep from dumping fuel when the bike's off.  Fuel leaks thru the diaphragm and goes into the vac line, to the carb, and into the motor.

That's why I went manual with mine.

I'm bidding on the Suzuki parts pile on eBay to get a petc0ck for the forthcoming manual conversion documentary.  Then it will be up for sale.  Wish me luck.

Were you pressing it using the brake pad between the c-clamp and piston?  If so you're OK.  Re-assemble and everything will be fine.

Probably OK even if you weren't using the brake pad.  Try it with some hydraulic pressure from the brake line and see - or did you already try it?

Crud.  I lost the Savage parts pile on ebay.  Any of yall got a leaky defective vac petcock that you took off / replaced sitting around, you'd like to loan me for a manual conversion how-to documentary?  Mine's already converted and it's warm enough to ride here.  I'll send it back to you as a working manual petcock unit.

Try with compressed air. Just be very careful. Wrap everything in a rag.

When compressing the piston, Is it important to remove the cover for the master cylinder?

im just gonna by the caliper...it looks alot cleaner than mine.

i also just found a crack on the plate that attaches to the fork so i tried to see how weak it was and it broke.  so if i put it  back on i'd only have one bolt attaching the caliper to the fork....doh

well at least i found it before anything bad could happen.  

how accurate is the rear brake wear indicator?  It reads that i'm still good but should i check it anyway?  i love this bike!  its so easy to work on and theres lots of parts available!!.  this is my second bike...my first was a 250 nighthawk that i sold in 2 months(just not my style).

i'm going to repaint my tank and rear fender.  when i remove my rear wheel do i have to readjust anything when i put it back together....i don't want my belt to be misaligned.  I think this is all i'm goin to do before spring really starts.  we've been having pleasant weather here and im dying to ride but its also good maintenance weather.

anything else i should do while the weather is good?  
so far:
replaced leaking plug
changed to flat bar... no riser
painted side panels dark gray
removed sissy bar
painted exhaust hi temp flat black

thanks for all the advice

the flat black is holding up pretty well so far.  my exhaust was extremely rusty underneath and i don't really feel like buying a new exhaust just yet.

i have an 87 savage...does that mean i have a bigger jet than the newer ones?  i'm just doing some low cost mods.

i'd like to buy an M50 in the future...but college drains my time and money.

Disc brakes drag constantly, but without pressure there is no wear.  The hydraulics will move the pistons out to squeeze the rotor, but there is no mechanism to move the pistons back in.